“In today’s scientific world, it is foolish to consider cow as a Goddess. It is appropriate to provide a financial and scientific basis for cow protection instead of a religious basis. The ‘gau bhaktha’ who portrays that cows and buffalos are Gods should be stopped and tied to yolk and made to work in the service of the nation.” These were the words of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Sangh Parivar’s father figure. He wrote in ‘Maharashtra Sharadha’ (April 1935), about cows in a way that is a slap in the face of fake cow protectors. In the same article, he has made many more points about cows which are as follows:
“In today’s scenario, the Veda for our nation must be experiment-based modern science. If Gaupooja is not appropriate for this, it should be dropped. If we adhere to such foolishness that mythologies perpetuate as Dharma, the country is going to be ruined. The damages due to Gaupooja that far outweigh the benefits is dangerous. It is alright even if cows are slaughtered but the country’s intellect should not be slaughtered.” Savarkar did not stop there. “Considering that cows and ox are animals appropriate for an agriculture-based country, we can use these animals to meet our requirements. Instead, if we surmise that they are Goddesses and that our mythologies have asked to worship them, it will destroy our country for sure. For meager benefits, we will lose more,” Savarkar cautioned.
Sangh Parivar’s tallest leader Savarkar was aware that politics in the name of a cow would cause tremendous loss to the country. Today, BJP, as Savarkar said, is causing heavy losses to farmers for meager electoral gains. Even if it does not consider the voices of leading thinkers or farmers, BJP should at least read its own leader V.D.Savarkar’s article and as a mark of respect to him, revoke this confusing law. It should understand that it should not damage the country for the sake of the party.
The state’s farmers and people should understand one aspect. The law that the state is promulgating is not against beef consumption or against cow slaughter. This law is being introduced actually to rob farmers of the rights to sell their cattle. According to Law Minister J.C. Madhuswamy, “There are no restrictions on the sale and consumption of beef.” Also, this law does not make any changes to the supply of beef because large corporations will take over the beef supply contract in the coming days. Already, India is the second-largest exporter of beef. The country will continue to remain a leading beef exporter in the future because several leaders of political parties including BJP are in the beef export business. And no industrialist would be willing to close down an industry that fetches crores of rupees.
According to the law that the government has promulgated, cows for sale and slaughter should be more than 13 years old. Besides, beef for export should be of high quality. Otherwise, the countries that import beef would reject them. Therefore, a question arises about who would then supply healthy cows for export. In this question lies the answer about what exactly is happening in the name of cow slaughter ban.
This bill has been promulgated to make sure that farmers don’t sell their cattle openly and apparently not to stop the consumption of beef. So, who will actually stand to lose because of the bill? In our country, Brahmins who worship cows don’t rear cows. And we don’t have the practice of rearing cows only for the purpose of worship. Merchants who sell cows also don’t rear cows. Those who rear cows are farmers of rural areas who depend on dairy farming and for them, cow dung, urine, skin, bones, and all parts of the animal are a part of their business. Farmers also sell sterile cows past their fertile period and reinvest the money into their business.
The government’s bill makes sure that farmers lose all their rights to sell these cows which are of no use for farmers. Unable to rear them in cowsheds, the farmers leave them in the forests or kill them by poisoning. And farmers don’t even have the opportunity to sell the cows as per government regulations as they then have to endure harassment by fake cow protectors. And if by chance the police file a case, farmers have to run around the courts throughout their lives. Finally, a situation might arise where farmers get frustrated and stop dairy farming. Perhaps, this is the government’s intention so that it can smoothly facilitate the corporate takeover of dairy farming.
The law will please only the workers of the Sangh Parivar, rowdies, and goondas who pretend as cow protectionists. The law will enable these ‘cow protectionists’ to harass farmers, take hold of the cows, and sell them directly to slaughterhouses. Cow sheds are already a cesspool of financial irregularities. There are allegations about how cows that were purportedly being transported to cow shelters are being rerouted to mega beef processing units.
In the coming days, an increasing number of cow shelters will be opened. The business of generating crores of rupees by taking over cows at throwaway prices while at the same time obtaining financial assistance from the government is all set to grow. This bill that is being promulgated to encourage rowdies and corporate honchos will take the farmers of rural areas on the path of destruction. As Savarkar said, “In upholding cow protection as our dharma, we should not lose our intellect and discretion.” This message of Savarkar should be immediately communicated to BJP leaders.
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New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
